


the tent at midnight

by cawrasu



Category: Fire Emblem: Kakusei | Fire Emblem: Awakening
Genre: Between A-Rank and S-Rank, F/M, Fluff without Plot
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-11-13
Updated: 2016-11-13
Packaged: 2018-08-30 20:30:08
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,192
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8548129
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/cawrasu/pseuds/cawrasu
Summary: "Huh, I don't think I really celebrated my birthday before, ever."





	

**Author's Note:**

> A birthday fic for Henry. It is a bit clumsy, but I didn't want to let this sit as a work in progress until next year.

The first and most abundant set of books were the strategy kinds–charts, guides, recordings of every battle ever. They would all be neatly placed into a wooden chest with a tight seal. The next set were the historical books, and those would be placed in a crate, much less orderly than the chest. And the last set ended up as a mess of everything else that Robin decided was important to go on the convoy: journals of scrawled recipes, logs of crudely drawn plants, and random notes so hastily written that Henry was surprised that she could decipher them later on. Those would get tossed into a different crate with the least amount of attention. Then, all three containers were to be moved out of the tent and placed on to the convoy in the morning.

"Yep, all forty-one are here! Do you want me to arrange them in size order this time, too?" asked Henry, a bit disappointed that his day was winding down so quickly. Not that he minded the order, but he did have hopes for something a bit more thrilling regardless. Check the weapons! Practice drawing sigils! Gather all the nocturnal birds in the forest! Instead, he glanced at the exhausted tactician, waiting for a response.

"Just packing them up for tonight will do," answered Robin before jotting some marks on a checklist that she held in her hand. "After this, we need to rest. We'll be in deeper trouble if we don't get any sleep and we're attacked again tomorrow."

And not getting sleep meant that she'd keep him out of battle if they _did_ get attacked again, so Henry decided that this task will have to do. He studied the heap of books and giggled. Robin could never keep these things organized. He began by picking up those that he could quickly identify. Usually books with the word "battle" somewhere on them went in the chest.

"I wanna be in a war book," Henry announced, skimming through a volume detailing a Ylisse-Plegia battle from eighteen years ago. He didn't really think about it much unless someone reminded him, but it was pretty funny where his current alliances lie. Even funnier now that their latest mission was a visit to Plegia Castle. "Hey, Robin, if you get any word in these things, there has to be a part about my reputation with hanging around crows all time. That would be neat!"

She chuckled. "You'll definitely be in the books with the rest of us regarding our Valm campaign."

Satisfied with her remark, Henry grinned and flipped through another with sudden interest. "Glad that I didn't miss out then!– Ooh, there are some old magic seals in here." He copied the symbols in the air with his finger, fascinated by the archaic designs.

"Um, Henry..."

"Oh, sorry."

She folded the paper into her coat and ambled over to assist him.

Henry stacked a couple of books into his arms and shuffled to the nearby containers. "When did you get so many new ones?"

"There was an amazing sale in the last town," Robin delightfully replied before grabbing a few of her own. "I'm surprised that I was able to pick up so many with our budget for them, too."

"Maybe they were cursed and–"

"Henry, don't say that," she teased.

None of them were (unfortunately), but Henry laughed at the idea. "Aww, but then you'd see my sweet curse deflecting skills. That hexer would be in a for a surprise!" He laughed harder.

They dropped off their first sets. He swiveled on his heel to turn around and retrieve the next load.

"You're rather lively," commented Robin. She gave him a warm smile. "Maybe that's to be expected, since it still is the night of your birthday."

Henry beamed. "Nya ha, of course I'm still excited!"

* * *

Some undead potato sacks assaulted the army the night before, a few hours after they crossed the Border Pass. It was a force of Entombed that were quickly overpowered, but the attack after trekking Plegian desert wiped more energy out of Henry and the rest of them than expected. Yeah, this is why he liked staying at Carrion Isle: sand is kind of annoying.

It was sometime in the middle of Vaike wishing him well for his birthday with a slap on the back that almost toppled the dark mage over when the camp patrol cried out.

"Risen! We spotted approaching Risen to the north!" cried Sumia, swooping in on her super fun pegasus and rearing it before the winged horse could trample through camp. Wow, the strange amount of attention that he was receiving today was nice, but this day was getting better!

Vaike shouted, "Oh, come on! It's like we've been bathing in Reeking Boxes!"

"This is so great!" exclaimed Henry, although he wasn't sure anyone heard how much he appreciated the surprise with the place now ablaze for battle preparations.

So the orders from Chrom were simple: Anyone who didn't desperately need rest was deployed. Though he could use a little nap, there was no way Henry was going to pass on any of this fun. It had been less than a day since the last battle and the sun was just starting to set, but he was still amazed to see that he was one of the few still ready. He inspected his tome, a slightly battered Ruin. Robin insisted at the assembly that their best weapons be reserved for a worse case scenario at the castle, so his new Nosferatu had to wait.

Word passed that Henry would met up with his assigned partner at the edge of the battlefield, a rocky place with pockets of sand. He was delighted to see the tactician herself.

"Henry," said Robin, greeting him with a smile.

Robin's a great partner. She was full of surprises when it came to battle. And she knew how to use a lot of different weapons which made watching her kill things really interesting. Today, her weapon of choice was a Silver Sword. Ooh, stylish.

"We're in the second wave. Are you all right with that?"

"Yeah!" replied Henry. "Last night, there was only one Entombed that got pretty close to me, but Owain yelled something and skewered it before I could do anything. But hey, if there are two fronts tonight, that means there's a lot of them out there for me!"

Henry examined their surroundings. Hm, no villages to defend this time. Not only did this mean that he didn't have something to worry about in the back of his mind, but this also meant that he had free reign to let loose his best dark magic.

He grinned. He ran forward and blasted the first two Risen in their range. Robin timed her lunges. It was a weird, but effective rhythm. Most of the corpse soldiers were the frail kind and crumbled into earthly dust, but one of them was meaty enough to leave a leg behind. She glanced at him with a smirk before he could say anything.

"Absolutely not."

"I thought you'd get a kick out of it."

"I knew you wanted to say something like that."

The two Minerva's shrieks were heard in the distance and Henry wondered if the other front had better opponents. The battlefield was awfully quiet otherwise and they soon realized that they somehow stalled too far away from the others.

"Was that all of them?" asked Henry, giggling.

Robin scanned the area and she gripped her sword tighter. "Not quite."

A Risen Chief brandishing a lance marched forwards.

"Henry, hold!" ordered Robin.

She acted first and swung her sword, aiming for its neck. Robin landed three gashes on its body before she was blocked and pushed off her feet. Henry snuck in a Ruin spell before he had to dodge. Scrambling back up, Robin attempted another strike, only to be blocked and shoved away yet again. There was an opening and Henry quickly peppered it with more dark magic.

The Risen Chief wobbled, using its lance to keep balance, but remained standing.

Henry grinned. "Haven't had enough?"

It snarled.

Robin rushed in, her sword now chipped, determined to strike head on.

Refocusing on a target, the Risen Chief swung its lance.

She hopped to the side and sprung forward, sword held over her head, delivering a critical blow.

The Risen Chief dissipated and the sword broke. Robin looked anguished at her hasty decision, and muttered about her weapon choices like she broke some ultimate strategy rule or something.

"Robin!" he called. "That was awesome!" He waved to encourage her.

She nodded, still catching her breath.

Fatigue was setting in for both them, but their celebration was cut short as a growl from close by caught their attention.

Another Risen Chief emerged.

In one smooth motion, Robin threw her broken Silver Sword towards the enemy, and with her left hand, pulled out a Flux from her coat. The blast was weak and the Risen Chief took little damage. No luck, this one looked really strong and Henry knew she was still mastering dark magic.

"Here!" yelled Henry, sending a strong blast of Ruin to the brute.

Robin rushed into position and fired another spell of her own.

The Risen Chief quickly closed the space between the two, lance extended to strike. Henry dodged to his left. Robin jumped back and sent more dark magic.

"Robin, careful!" said Henry, warning her of an incoming sweep.

She spoke hastily. "We have to keep stalling. I need a plan."

Henry peppered the Risen Chief with magic and Robin's spells were less frequent. It was falling apart, but their stamina was falling faster.

"The Verdant Forest," Robin gasped.

He nodded, assuringly. "Yeah–"

"You'll lead."

So he'd have to make this swift. Perfect, Henry could feel this next cast would be critical. Robin dashed away to give them distance, and casted one last Flux spell to initiate. He readied another Ruin spell. As the Risen Chief charged towards to pierce him, at the last moment, Henry cackled and fired. The dark mage jumped back before an explosion of purple smoke engulfed them both. Almost too quickly, the Risen Chief disintegrated back into dust.

Pushover.

"Henry, don't hesitate as much, please, please–" cried Robin, trailing off.

"You should play that tactic more often!"

Henry laughed the whole way back.

* * *

 

They placed another set of books down.

"I'll think of a more defensive strategy for the future," said Robin before using a book to conceal a yawn.

"You really wore yourself out," Henry replied, stuffing more into the crate. "I don't think I ever celebrated my birthday with a battle before. Huh, I don't think I really celebrated my birthday before, ever. Something about the date of my birthday being some bad omen," he noted casually.

Maybe it was faint, but he didn't hear Robin respond.

"Is 'Grandmaster Records' strategy or history?"

"History," she replied, still awake. "If things in Plegia go smoothly, we'll on our way back in a month–this one's on vegetation: everything else crate–and then, a complete Fire Emblem."

Henry picked up a familiar ragged book with the word 'Doma' scrawled on its cover. He remembered a wicked drawing of a grotesque dragon-like creature somewhere in there. But now the spine was nearly split apart and the whole book was sloppily wrapped in a cord.

"Oh hey, what happened to this?" Henry asked while carefully carrying it into the crate.

Robin glared at the book.

"Chrom."

It was some time before she started to giggle and Henry joined in on her laughter. But after another stack, his weariness was fading in. They continued their task, his questions became hush and her battle plans became murmurs. Weird, this quiet time was almost as nice as the battle.

"All right, that's all the books!" Henry announced, dusting off his hands together.

He turned to Robin, who seemed oddly withdrawn. Wow, she must be really tired, too.

"I actually have..." she started. "One more book. Just for you." She reached into her coat and handed it to him.

It was newly bound book with intricate designs on its cover. Henry brushed his fingers across the etchings.

Robin toyed with the trimmings on her coat.

"I wanted to give you a gift." She looked up to him with a bit of nervous smile. "Happy birthday again, Henry."

He titled his head out of curiosity.

She looked aside. "I decided that I could hold off from another Archanea history book... But, um, it's a nice little traveler's journal with drawings of skeletal structures on animals. They have a really nice section about birds– I hope you like it."

He slowly flipped through the pages, glowing. "For me? Yeah, this is awesome! Thanks!"

"You're welcome. I'm really glad that you like it," Robin replied.

She scanned the tent.

"That's finished, then. I'll see you tomorrow. Good night, Henry."

And with that, she was off.

Henry mused if it was because now he had nothing better to do besides return to his tent, but he somehow suddenly wished that she had more books.


End file.
